20260123 10493900 1.0 FALSE Waste_Polygons -1884060.176500 1651457.199700 -916801.667500 996123.894600 1 002 Projected GCS_North_American_1983 Linear Unit: Meter (1.000000) North_America_Albers_Equal_Area_Conic <ProjectedCoordinateSystem xsi:type='typens:ProjectedCoordinateSystem' xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance' xmlns:xs='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema' xmlns:typens='http://www.esri.com/schemas/ArcGIS/3.5.0'><WKT>PROJCS[&quot;North_America_Albers_Equal_Area_Conic&quot;,GEOGCS[&quot;GCS_North_American_1983&quot;,DATUM[&quot;D_North_American_1983&quot;,SPHEROID[&quot;GRS_1980&quot;,6378137.0,298.257222101]],PRIMEM[&quot;Greenwich&quot;,0.0],UNIT[&quot;Degree&quot;,0.0174532925199433]],PROJECTION[&quot;Albers&quot;],PARAMETER[&quot;False_Easting&quot;,0.0],PARAMETER[&quot;False_Northing&quot;,0.0],PARAMETER[&quot;Central_Meridian&quot;,-96.0],PARAMETER[&quot;Standard_Parallel_1&quot;,20.0],PARAMETER[&quot;Standard_Parallel_2&quot;,60.0],PARAMETER[&quot;Latitude_Of_Origin&quot;,40.0],UNIT[&quot;Meter&quot;,1.0],AUTHORITY[&quot;Esri&quot;,102008]]</WKT><XOrigin>-16688100</XOrigin><YOrigin>-9068200</YOrigin><XYScale>10000</XYScale><ZOrigin>-100000</ZOrigin><ZScale>10000</ZScale><MOrigin>-100000</MOrigin><MScale>10000</MScale><XYTolerance>0.001</XYTolerance><ZTolerance>0.001</ZTolerance><MTolerance>0.001</MTolerance><HighPrecision>true</HighPrecision><WKID>102008</WKID><LatestWKID>102008</LatestWKID></ProjectedCoordinateSystem> 20260114 08453400 20260122 11572800 ItemDescription 150000000 5000 Nick A Karl U.S. Geological Survey Supervisory Physical Scientist 303-236-1222 PO Box 25046 Mail Stop 973 Lakewood CO 80225 US nkarl@usgs.gov 20260122 ArcGIS Metadata 1.0 GS ScienceBase U.S. Geological Survey 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302 Denver CO 80225 US sciencebase@usgs.gov none Digital Data Use a file extraction software such as WinZip, 7zip, Peazip None. https://doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA https://doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA File Geodatabase Feature Class National Mine Waste Inventory 2026-01-23 1.0 U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Denver, CO vector digital data U.S. Geological Survey data release DOI: doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA Suggested Citation: U.S. Geological Survey, 2026, National mine waste inventory: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA. <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN><SPAN>This attribute table contains polygon data for the database: U.S. Geological Survey, 2026, Mine waste inventory of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey data release, </SPAN><A href="https://doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA" target="_blank" STYLE="text-decoration:underline;"><SPAN>https://doi.org/10.5066/P148EEUA</SPAN></A><SPAN>.</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV> This dataset is being developed to increase the understanding of the number, location, size, and other characteristics of non-fuel mine waste features for the conterminous United States. These data are the first version of a national-scale database that is intended to inform and support other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies in land management planning, environmental impact assessments, and prioritizing future research initiatives. The data sets were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center (GGGSC) with funding from the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program (MRP) and the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI). USGS contributors were Autumn L. Helfrich, Carma A. San Juan, Elizabeth M. Smith, John A. Murzyn, Karissa G. Rosenberger, Nick A. Karl, Ryan D. Taylor, and Sean P. Gaynor. Former USGS contributors were Abby S. Buarapha, Alan A. Hurlbert, Andrew F. Smith, Cheryl Novakovich, Christina N. Hutchins, Emma Boardman-Larson, Emma J. Haydamack, Jacob D. Melendez, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Jonathan Funk, Justin S. Pierson, Laura C. Dair, Madelyn E. Eysel, Sophia Pinter, Ursula E. Armstrong-Sturges, and Virgil S. Alfred. State geological survey contributions were made by: Kentucky Geological Survey, Michigan Geological Survey, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, North Carolina Geological Survey, Oklahoma Geological Survey, and Virginia Department of Energy, Geology and Mineral Resources Program. Data and metadata review were provided by Josh M. Rosera of the U.S. Geological Survey. Nick A Karl U.S. Geological Survey Supervisory Physical Scientist 303-236-1222 PO Box 25046 Mail Stop 973 Lakewood CO 80225 US nkarl@usgs.gov Common Geographic Areas United States Arizona Colorado Kentucky Michigan Montana Nevada New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Utah Virginia ISO 19115 Topic Category geoscientificInformation USGS Thesaurus aluminum antimony arsenic barite beryllium bismuth cobalt copper critical minerals economic geology fluorite geographic information systems geospatial datasets gold hafnium iron lead lithium magnesium manganese metallic mineral resources mine waste mineral deposits mineral resources mineralogy mining and quarrying molybdenum nickel palladium platinum rhenium silver tellurium tin titanium tungsten uranium vanadium zinc zirconium Department of the Interior DOI Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area GEMMA Rocky Mountain Region USGS Region 7 U.S. Geological Survey USGS Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center GGGSC Mineral Resources Program MRP Earth Mapping Resources Initiative Earth MRI USGS Mineral Deposit Database USMIN commodities deposit deposit type evaporation pond gangue minerals gypsum stack leach pile mine dump mining district ore minerals ore stockpile overburden pile phosphate pond potash settling pond slag pile tailings waste rock stockpile USGS information products data release geoscientificInformation aluminum antimony arsenic barite beryllium bismuth cobalt copper critical minerals economic geology fluorite geographic information systems geospatial datasets gold hafnium iron lead lithium magnesium manganese metallic mineral resources mine waste mineral deposits mineral resources mineralogy mining and quarrying molybdenum nickel palladium platinum rhenium silver tellurium tin titanium tungsten uranium vanadium zinc zirconium Department of the Interior DOI Geology Energy and Minerals Mission Area GEMMA Rocky Mountain Region USGS Region 7 U.S. Geological Survey USGS Geology Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center GGGSC Mineral Resources Program MRP Earth Mapping Resources Initiative Earth MRI USGS Mineral Deposit Database USMIN commodities deposit deposit type evaporation pond gangue minerals gypsum stack leach pile mine dump mining district ore minerals ore stockpile overburden pile phosphate pond potash settling pond slag pile tailings waste rock stockpile data release United States Arizona Colorado Kentucky Michigan Montana Nevada New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Utah Virginia <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV> Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. None. Please see 'Distribution Info' for details. Esri ArcGIS Pro 3.4.3 true -124.7625 -66.9496 49.3845 24.5211 publication dates of source information 1905 2025 The Esri ArcGIS Pro 3.4.3 geodatabase contains one point feature class, one polygon feature class, three non-spatial tables, and six relationship classes. The relationship classes link attribute tables using the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) or Site ID (Site_ID). Spatial and non-spatial tables are duplicated as CSV files. Metadata is provided in extensible markup language (XML), hypertext markup language (HTML), and text-formatted (TXT) formats. A data dictionary summarizes fields in the tables and provides short field descriptions. FILES IN DATA RELEASE --USGS_Mine_Waste-metadata.xml: FGDC metadata --USGS_Mine_Waste-metadata.zip: a folder containing the metadata in XML, HTML, and TXT formats. --USGS_Mine_Waste-metadata-datadict.csv: a non-spatial table summarizing all fields in the geodatabase in alphabetic order. --------USGS_Mine_Waste_US-geodatabase.zip-------- USGS_Mine_Waste.gdb: an Esri file geodatabase containing the following feature classes and tables: -----Relates: six relationship classes that link attribute tables. -----Waste_Points: a point feature class that represents the approximate center of mine waste polygons and contains basic information about the location. -----Waste_Polygons: a polygon feature class that represents the extent of mine waste features. -----Waste_Geology: a table that contains reported deposit type, commodity, and minerals associated to the waste feature. -----Waste_References: a table that contains the citation document(s) from which the point, polygon, or attribute information was obtained. -----Waste_Resources: a table that contains reported resource information for mine waste features. ------USGS_Mine_Waste-shapefiles.zip---------- A zip file containing shapefiles of feature classes and CSV versions of non-spatial tables in the file geodatabase. Also includes a data dictionary and metadata. Zip file contains: --USGS_Mine_Waste-metadata: a folder containing the metadata in XML, HTML, and TXT formats. --USGS_Mine_Waste-shapefiles: a folder containing shapefiles of the GIS data and comma-separated values (CSV) tables. --USGS_Mine_Waste-metadata-datadict.csv: a non-spatial table that summarizes all fields represented in the geodatabase, presented in alphabetic order. GENERAL INFORMATION Mine waste features are man-made features which are the result of extracting, processing, and/or concentrating mining-related materials. The locations of mine waste features are commonly represented as polygons or points in source maps, figures, reports, tabular data, or GIS layers. In this database, mine waste features are represented by a polygon boundary showing the surficial extent of a mine waste feature as determined from published reports or from digital GIS datasets, and a point feature that represents the approximate center of the polygon extent. Each polygon and point feature are uniquely identified by a feature ID. The site ID is used to indicate groups of related features, or "sites". Tables are linked (related) using the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) or the Site ID (Site_ID) fields. Some tables have more than one record describing a feature. For example, a point denoting a mine waste feature location may have many records in the Waste_Resources table which may provide mine waste characterization information reported for multiple materials (for example, copper, lead, and zinc). The database is designed to allow the user to navigate from the polygon or point layers to the linked table information or from the tables to the polygon and point layers. All information is derived from publicly available sources. Full citations are listed in the References table Citation (Citation) field, and each full citation is assigned a short citation that is recorded in the Primary Citation (Prim_Cit) or Secondary Citation (Sec_Cit) fields in the attribute tables. Secondary citations are enumerated after attribute field values, which are referred to as secondary citation designators, and the corresponding citation is reported in the Secondary Citation (Sec_Cit) field. As an example, one Commodity record shows "copper; gold (1); silver (1)". This indicates that identification of the commodity "copper" is derived from the primary citation denoted in the Primary Citation (Prim_Cit) field as "Duhamel and others (1995)" and "gold (1); silver (1)" are derived from the first reference in the Secondary Citation (Sec_Cit) field as "(1) Werner and others (2017)". Secondary citations are reported in the order of use in the attribute table after the primary citation. The Last Updated (Last_Updt) field shows the date that the record was last updated. Text fields may report text strings, such as those seen in the Commodity (Commodity) field. Commodity values are reported in alphabetical order, not order of importance, and are separated by a semicolon. There are no ending periods for text strings, except for the Reference (Reference) field. In Esri ArcGIS Pro, null values in the attribute table indicate where available data were checked and no data were found to populate the cell. In these cases, the attribute value will display "<Null>". In csv files, the cell value will appear empty. In the Entity and Attribute section of this metadata, attribute fields from all feature classes and tables are listed in alphabetical order, and corresponding feature classes and tables are listed in parentheses after the field name in the Attribute Label. For example, "Commodity (Waste_Geology, Waste_Points)" indicates that the attribute field Commodity (Commodity) occurs in the Waste_Geology table and in the Waste_Points table. DATABASE LAYERS AND TABLES EXPLANATION In the geospatial database, all non-fuel mine waste features are represented as polygons that contain a central point. The perimeters of waste features are obtained from published reports or from digital GIS datasets. These perimeters are compared to current GIS imagery and updated as needed to reflect any discernable changes to the waste feature on the landscape. The central point located inside each polygon provides a single latitude and longitude coordinate for each mine waste feature plus additional information about the waste feature. Waste Polygons (Waste_Polygons) The Waste_Polygons feature class contains polygons or footprints of non-fuel mine waste features. These polygons are digitized from public documents or imported from digital GIS datasets. Polygons may be subsequently refined using imagery and/or digital elevation models to capture the current spatial extent of the feature. Attributes are captured for site and feature name, feature type, and a description of how the feature was located. The polygon feature is related to the point and resource record by the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) field and to the geology record by the Site ID (Site_ID) field. All information in the attribute record is derived from the citation(s) reported in the Primary Citation (Prim_Cit) and Secondary Citation (Sec_Cit) fields. These citations are reported in the Reference table Citation (Citation) field. Waste Points (Waste_Points) The Waste_Points feature class contains point locations that represent the approximate center of the related polygon feature. All features have an associated point record in the database. The point attribute table reports general locational information (State, County, Longitude, Latitude, and other things), commodity(s), and the mine and/or district the waste feature is associated with. The point feature is related to the polygon and resource record by the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) field, and to the geology record by the Site ID (Site_ID) field. Waste Resources (Waste_Resources) The Waste_Resources attribute table reports known mineral resource characterization information for the mine waste feature. This may include volume, tonnage factor, material amount, grade, or contained commodity information. In many cases, little is known about mineral resources, so these entries may be sparsely populated. Individual waste features may have multiple records in the resource table, or a one-to-many relationship. For example, if a publicly available source reports that a waste feature has copper, lead, and zinc, all with tonnage and grade, there would be a minimum of three records in the resource table, one for each reported material. There may be more than three records for this example if the characterization included resource classifications, such as inferred or indicated resources. There are two primary divisions of the waste resources attribute table: 1) reported information, where no conversions or calculations are reported; 2) International System of Units (SI) information, where all reported values are reported in SI, and when appropriate, calculations by USGS staff are completed to fill in the gaps in the records. The USGS reports first order approximation for the volume of all mine waste features. These volumes are estimated using a linear regression method that uses the areal extent of the waste feature and the minimum and maximum elevations derived from digital elevation model data. This value is reported in the Calculated Volume (Calc_Vol) field, where units are in cubic meters. The SI fields - Reported Volume SI (Rep_Vol_SI), Tonnage Factor SI (Ton_F_SI), Material Amount SI (MatAmntSI), Grade SI (GradeSI), and Contained SI Commodity Amount (CntSIComAm) are populated by USGS staff where possible. These conversions and calculations allow resource values to be reported in standard units, and gaps in the database to be filled. Values ending with “111” as a decimal trailer, indicate the value was calculated by USGS staff. For example, if the value in the Tonnage Factor SI (Ton_F_SI) field is calculated by USGS staff to be 1.8 metric tons per cubic meter, the value recorded in the database will be 1.8111. Converted values will also use this format. For example, if a value in the Material Amount SI (MatAmntSI) field is converted by USGS staff to be 450,000 metric tons, the value recorded in the database will be 450,000.111. These decimal trailers are not reported in the Entity and Attribute section of this metadata for numeric ranges. Additionally, values may be reported with a preceding negative sign to indicate values that apply to multiple records. For example, if the volume of a waste feature contains copper, lead, and zinc, and the grade and tonnage are reported, the table will have a record for each commodity, and the volume of each will be the same and will include a negative sign. Waste resource records are related to the polygon and point feature by the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) field and to the geology record by the Site ID (Site_ID) field. Waste Geology (Waste_Geology) The Waste_Geology attribute table reports known information for deposit type, commodity, and minerals related to the geologic source of the mine waste. Geology records are generally reported at a broader site level since there typically is little published information on the composition of materials in individual waste features. If it is known that features within a site have variable material compositions, there may be more than one geology record to a site, where the Feature ID (Ftr_ID) field will designate the geology record specific to the feature. Terms in text strings for Deposit Type 2 (Dep_Type_2), Ore Minerals (Ore_Min), and Gangue Minerals (Gangue_Min) fields are listed alphabetically and are delimited by a semicolon. Waste geology records are related to the polygon, point, and resource records by the Site ID (Site_ID) field. Waste References (Waste_References) The Waste_References table provides full references in USGS format for all citations used in the database. This is a stand-alone table which is not related to any other table in the database. 1 -122.270761 -72.836677 48.435507 30.402707 Unique values in text attribute fields were checked through frequency analyses for spelling, consistency of terms, accuracy, adherence to established vocabularies, and completeness. Numeric values were reviewed and verified by USGS staff. In published reports, numeric values are reported with variable precision. Numeric values that have trailing zeros after the decimal are truncated in ArcGIS. For example, a Grade (Grade) value reported as 0.370 is stored as 0.37 in the ArcGIS table. The published Grade (Grade) is provided in the Remarks (Remarks) field. The CSV version of the ArcGIS attribute tables will reflect the contents of the geodatabase table. A feature in this database is a spatially unique mine waste entity represented by a point and a polygon. The locations of mine waste features are represented as polygons in the Waste_Polygons, and as points in the Waste_Points feature classes. The polygonal footprint represents the approximate outline of a mine waste feature. These features are identified in cited literature reported in the Primary Citation (Prim_Cit) and/or the Secondary Citation (Sec_Cit) fields. Spatial extents are refined using imagery, digital elevation models or similar to allow the estimation of the current spatial extent of the feature. The point represents the approximate center of the polygon feature. Features reported in the polygon and point feature classes are related to records in the Waste_Resources table by the Feature ID (Ftr_ID), and to the Waste_Geology table by the Site ID (Site_ID). A site is considered a grouping of features but may also consist of an individual feature. Polygon features do not overlap and point features are not co-located or “stacked”. In rare circumstances polygonal features are represented as a multipart polygon if the volume, material amount, grade or similar are reported for a feature that has spatially separated parts. Polygon features may be merged if they are within 100 meters of another similar feature type given there is not a significant change in elevation. All features in this database have a polygon record, a point record, and a resource record at the feature level and a geology record that represents the grouping of features at the site level. Non-fuel mine waste feature geospatial and attribute data are compiled for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah by USGS staff, where features captured are larger than 200,000 square meters in area. Mine waste features captured by State geological surveys for Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia are larger than 2,000 square meters in area. Data are limited to publicly available sources which were found to be reported for the time period between 1905 and 2025. Common literature sources include industry reports, mining technical reports, journal articles, and Federal and State agency reports or databases. Locations of features are compiled by importing published geographic information system (GIS) data or by digitizing georeferenced images of maps, and then using imagery, or digital elevation models to refine shape extents. The locational accuracy of features is dependent on the accuracy of the source GIS, maps, or similar that were imported or digitized in the database. Vertical accuracy in the data set is not applicable. A primary natural color landscape imagery layer used to refine the perimeters of mine waste polygon features. Imagery data are from TerraColor satellite and aerial Maxar imagery at 0.3-meter resolution for select metropolitan areas around the world, and 0.5-meter resolution across the United States. World imagery Esri (2025) 2025 Esri application/service Suggested citation: Esri, 2025, World imagery: Esri, https://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer. https://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer publication date 2025 These data were used to identify locations and mine waste feature types in the development of the dataset. In addition, this source was used by the authors to develop standardized vocabularies of waste feature types for the database and attribute tables. Prospect- and Mine-Related Features from U.S. Geological Survey 7.5- and 15-Minute Topographic Quadrangle Maps of the United States (ver. 10.0, May 2023) Horton and San Juan (2016) 2016 John D Horton Carma A San Juan vector digital data Suggested citation: Horton, J.D., and San Juan, C.A., 2016, Prospect- and mine-related features from U.S. Geological Survey 7.5- and 15-minute topographic quadrangle maps of the United States (ver. 10.0, May 2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F78W3CHG. https://doi.org/10.5066/f78w3chg Topographic map publication date 1886 2006 A 1- to 10-meter resolution digital elevation model (DEM) layer used to generate hill shade images to refine the perimeters of mine waste polygon features. These DEM data were also used to extract the minimum and maximum elevations of mine waste features to estimate the volume of waste. USGS 3D Elevation Program Digital Elevation Model U.S. Geological Survey (2019) 2019 U.S. Geological Survey raster digital data Suggested citation: U.S. Geological Survey, 2019, USGS 3D Elevation Program Digital Elevation Model: U.S. Geological Survey, accessed October 17, 2022, at https://elevation.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/rest/services/3DEPElevation/ImageServer. https://elevation.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/rest/services/3DEPElevation/ImageServer publication date 2019 Reference used by the staff to develop standardized vocabularies for the database and attribute tables. The use of this reference is denoted as American Geosciences Institute (1997) in this metadata. Dictionary of mining, mineral, and related terms American Geosciences Institute (1997) 1997 2 American Geosciences Institute publication American Geosciences Institute, 1997, Dictionary of mining, mineral, and related terms (2nd ed.): Alexandria, Va., American Geosciences Institute, 646 p. publication date 1997 Reference used by the staff to develop standardized vocabularies for the database and attribute tables. The use of this reference is denoted as Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (2014) in this metadata. CIM definition standards for mineral resources & mineral reserves Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (2014) 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum publication Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, 2014, CIM definition standards for mineral resources & mineral reserves: Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, 9 p., accessed May 4, 2020, at https://mrmr.cim.org/media/1128/cim-definition-standards_2014.pdf. https://mrmr.cim.org/media/1128/cim-definition-standards_2014.pdf publication date 2014 Reference used by the USGS staff to develop standardized vocabularies for the database and attribute tables. The use of this reference is denoted as Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (2024) in this metadata. CRIRSCO Definitions Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (2024) 2024 Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards publication Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards, 2024, RIRSCO Definitions, 22 p., accessed July 17, 2025, at https://crirsco.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2025/07/CRIRSCO_Definitions_Summary_to_accompany_June2024_version_of_the_CRIRSCO_Template-6c3lij.pdf. https://crirsco.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2025/07/CRIRSCO_Definitions_Summary_to_accompany_June2024_version_of_the_CRIRSCO_Template-6c3lij.pdf publication date 2024 Reference used by USGS staff to develop standardized vocabularies for the database and attribute tables. The use of this reference is denoted as Bureau of Land Management (2025) in this metadata. BLM National SMA Surface Management Agency Area Polygons: Bureau of Land Management database Bureau of Land Management (2025) 2025 Bureau of Land Management application/service Bureau of Land Management, 2025, BLM National SMA Surface Management Agency Area Polygons: Bureau of Land Management database, accessed July 15, 2025, at https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/6bf2e737c59d4111be92420ee5ab0b46/info/metadata/metadata.xml?format=default&output=html. https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/6bf2e737c59d4111be92420ee5ab0b46/info/metadata/metadata.xml?format=default&output=html publication date 2025 Reference used by USGS staff to develop standardized vocabularies for the database and attribute tables. The use of this reference is denoted as Hofstra and others (2021) in this metadata. Deposit classification scheme for the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative Global Geochemical Database Hofstra and others (2021) 2021 Albert Hofstra Vladimir Lisitsin Louise Corriveau Suzanne Paradis Jan Peter Kathleen Lauzière Christopher Lawley Michael Gadd Jean-Luc Pilote Ian Honsberger Evgeniy Bastrakov David Champion Karol Czarnota Michael Doublier David Huston Oliver Raymond Simon VanDerWielen Poul Emsbo Matthew Granitto Douglas Kreiner publication Hofstra, A., Lisitsin, V., Corriveau, L., Paradis, S., Peter, J., Lauzière, K., Lawley, C., Gadd, M., Pilote, J., Honsberger, I., Bastrakov, E., Champion, D., Czarnota, K., Doublier, M., Huston, D., Raymond, O., VanDerWielen, S., Emsbo, P., Granitto, M., and Kreiner, D., 2021, Deposit classification scheme for the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative Global Geochemical Database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1049, 60 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211049. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211049 publication date 2021 The U.S. Geological Survey compiled mine waste features related to non-fuel commodities for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. A search of publicly available mine waste information was conducted for mine waste features greater than 200,000 square meters in areal extent. The size cutoff applies to individual features at a site. Sites with numerous smaller mine waste features, like Leadville, CO, were not captured. Priority was given to using existing national coverage databases which provide mine waste feature locations and attribute information suitable for a geographic information system (GIS). Four primary sources of information were evaluated for waste feature identification. They include GRID-Arendal (2020), Horton and San Juan (2016), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2020), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2024). Literature research identified additional attribute information for these features. Relevant information was acquired, reviewed for quality and geospatial information, digitally captured, and fully attributed to the extent possible. Mine waste features identified in published datasets or literature were captured in the GIS as a polygon feature type. The perimeters of these features were evaluated using 0.3- to 0.5-meter resolution natural color imagery (Esri, 2025) as well as 1- to 10-meter resolution shaded relief imagery (U.S. Geological Survey, 2019). In many cases, waste feature perimeters were modified to reflect landscape changes. In most cases, these features represent individual waste entities. Situationally, features may have been merged if they were within 100 meters of another similar feature type, and if there were not significant elevation changes between the features. If a feature was named, and reported resource characterization information was provided, such as a reported volume, those features were not merged with neighboring features in order to preserve the original reporting information as best as possible. A point feature was then placed in the approximate center of the associated polygon feature. The point feature was attributed to provide a single latitude and longitude coordinate for each mine waste feature plus associated information such as feature type, commodity, land management agency, Superfund status, and other things. Known mine waste resource information is reported for each feature. Information was compiled as reported and consequently reported in variable units. For consistency, the USGS converted these values to International System of Units (SI). USGS staff made every attempt to provide SI material amount, grade, and contained values. If two of the three values were reported, the missing value was calculated by the USGS staff in SI fields. These fields are denoted by "SI" in the field name. Values that have been converted or calculated in SI fields are denoted by a “111” decimal trailer. The USGS estimated a first order approximation of volumes for each feature using a linear regression method and 10-meter resolution DEM data for minimum and maximum elevations. These volume calculations were completed using custom USGS software (Jones and others, in press) that is based on a method described by Hollister and Milstead (2010). Volumes with null values indicate the area of the mine waste feature was too small for the software to calculate. Likewise, the software will report volumes that are less than the mine waste feature area when the mean depth (thickness) is less than 1-meter. Geology is generally provided at the site level. There may be instances where geology within a site is unique at the feature level. In these instances, there may be more than one geology record per site, but this is uncommon. Otherwise, a single geology record per site is required, which includes information on the deposit type, commodity, ore, and gangue minerals. These attributes are based on the source of the mine waste feature(s). All data were spatially integrated using ArcGIS. All attribute data were compiled from publicly available sources published between 1905 and 2025. Data were checked throughout the compilation process for accuracy of locations, completeness, and accuracy and consistency of attribution. State geological surveys completed an in-person training and two-review cycles prior to submitting final records to be included in the mine waste inventory. States completed work based on proposals through Earth MRI, which may not be inclusive of all mine waste features for the State. Once final data were submitted to USGS, USMIN staff evaluated submissions to ensure data were captured and attributed as these metadata describe. GRID-Arendal, 2020, Global tailings portal: GRID-Arendal database, accessed December 2022, https://tailing.grida.no/. Hollister, J., and Milstead, W.B., 2010, Using GIS to estimate lake volume from limited data: Lake and Reservoir Management, v. 26, no. 3, p. 194-199, https://doi.org/10.1080/07438141.2010.504321. Jones, J.M., Smith, A.F., Gaynor, S.P., and Mauk, J.L., in press, Geospatial tool for mine waste volume calculations from remote sensing source code, v1.0.0: U.S. Geological Survey Software Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P14P7CJG. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2020, National Inventory of Dams: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, accessed January 31, 2023, at https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/#/. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2024, NPL superfund site boundaries (EPA public): U.S Environmental Protection Agency, accessed December 13, 2024, at https://services.arcgis.com/cJ9YHowT8TU7DUyn/arcgis/rest/services/FAC_Superfund_Site_Boundaries_EPA_Public/FeatureServer. 2025-02-01 Esri (2025) Horton and San Juan (2016) U.S. Geological Survey (2019) 764 Attribute Fields The attribute fields contain attribute information associated with features or records in the data set. Attribute fields occur in data layer(s) noted in parentheses. USGS staff Feature Class 764 OBJECTID OBJECTID OID 4 0 0 Internal feature number. Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Shape Geometry 0 0 0 Feature geometry. Esri Coordinates defining the features. Site_ID Site_ID String 255 0 0 Site_Name Site_Name String 255 0 0 Ftr_ID Ftr_ID String 255 0 0 Ftr_Name Ftr_Name String 255 0 0 Ftr_Type Ftr_Type String 255 0 0 Loc_Descr Loc_Descr String 1000 0 0 Remarks Remarks String 1000 0 0 Prim_Cit Prim_Cit String 255 0 0 Sec_Cit Sec_Cit String 1000 0 0 Last_Updt Last_Updt String 255 0 0 Area_SqKm Area_SqKm Double 8 0 0 Shape_Length Shape_Length Double 8 0 0 Length of feature in internal units. Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. Shape_Area Shape_Area Double 8 0 0 Area of feature in internal units squared. Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. The entity and attribute information provide the tabular data associated with the data set. Please review the detailed descriptions that are provided (the individual attribute descriptions) for information on the values that appear as fields/table entries of the dataset. The entity and attribute information are generated by the individual and (or) agency identified as the originator of the dataset. Please review the rest of the metadata record for additional details and information. dataset Esri 4.0.0 Simple FALSE 764 TRUE FALSE